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BIG PHYSICS, BIG QUESTIONS –

Egyptians wrestle with the new riddle of the Sphinx

By
LEIGH DAYTON in
VANCOUVER

THERE IS something new on the back of the Great Sphinx of Giza. The
4600-year-old Egyptian monument is sporting a modern environmental monitoring
station on its stately rump. The solar-powered device is part of an international
effort to answer the modern riddle of the Sphinx: why is the half-human
half-lion structure crumbling? The instrument, which weighs 90 kilograms
and is 2 metres tall, is there as part of a joint project of the Egyptian
Antiquities Organisation and the California-based Getty Conservation Institute
(GCI), part of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Findings of the two-year project
will contribute to a conservation plan for the limestone monument. Between
10 and 30 centimetres of its surface are eroding away every century, estimates
Frank Preusser, the co-director of the American conservation institute.

A plan to save the structure does not yet exist because, surprisingly,
‘the main processes of deterioration are still somewhat speculative’, according
to Preusser. Rising ground water, sewage from a local village, erosion by
wind and sand, moisture and temperature fluctuations, and salt deposits
have all been suggested as culprits. Some researchers believe that atmospheric
pollution from Cairo, exhaust from tourist buses and the tramp of millions
of enthusiastic visitors are causing the massive Egyptian monument to shake,
flake and wear away.

The new meteorological station will give the first firm scientific data
on the problem. Readings of weather conditions are automatically taken every
10 to 15 seconds. The results are averaged at 15-minute intervals and then
stored for transmission later via radio to a research base which has been
set up on the Giza Plateau.

At present, eight sensors are collecting information on wind speed and
direction, rainfall, relative humidity, condensation, air temperature, solar
radiation and the surface temperature of the Sphinx. As the project continues,
the organisers will consider adding up to 30 more sensors.

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To avoid further damage to the Sphinx, the station is perched rather
precariously on the broad back of the monument. The instruments are secured
to a wooden platform which sits on a thick layer of padding. Sandbags and
huge rocks have been placed on the platform to hold it firmly in place on
the monument.

According to Preusser, the system is the second of three designed by
the Getty institute specifically for use at archaeological sites. The first
is gathering similar data at Mo gao ku, a 500-year-old Buddhist shrine in
the Gobi Desert. Later this year, a third device will be installed at the
Incan monument of Tiwanaku in Bolivia.

The meteorological station on the Sphinx is the most visible of the
Egyptian organisation’s efforts to preserve their country’s most celebrated
symbol. The organisation is conducting complementary research separately
and also in conjunction with the University of Cairo. Additionally, part
of a $100,000 (about Pounds sterling 60,000) UNESCO grant is being used
to fund a new study on the stability of the neck of the Sphinx. The French
team concluded that the neck is still sound and will not tumble to the ground.

Likewise, an advisory panel assembled last month by UNESCO at the request
of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation has reviewed the country’s plans
for managing the entire Giza Plateau. The plateau is home to the Great Pyramids,
numerous temples and a museum, as well as the Sphinx. The advisory panel
considered proposals to ban vehicles from the plateau, construct two crowd
control structures, remove other modern buildings, and erect a temporary
shelter that could be pulled over the Sphinx at night to protect it from
wind, condensation and changes in temperature.